Note: At the time of writing this, neither Michael Jackson nor R. Kelly have been legally convicted of any sexually based crimes as described in the documentaries. The two men who were the subject of Leaving Neverland, James Woodchuck and Wade Robson, are currently appealing a court’s decision to dismiss their claims against Jackson’s estate pertaining to sexual molestation in 2015, without the court passing judgement on whether these allegations were true or not. R. Kelly is currently facing 10 charges of aggravated criminal sexual abuse, throughout which he has maintained his innocence. When describing instances in these documentaries, I will be writing as if these allegations occurred for simplicity’s sake and due to my own personal belief in their validity, but it is not up to me to declare their definitive factual basis. This article is not meant to pass judgement on either of them, merely to examine how these narratives were handled.Continue reading “What I Like About: Surviving R. Kelly/Leaving Neverland and Framing a Narrative of Abuse”